Dedicated: Success
by corneroffandom
Summary: Heath isn't sure how Backlash is going to go, but he's determined to fight his hardest.


Earlier in the evening, The Usos had beat the Hype Bros. Thankfully they hadn't hurt Zack- or Mojo- further like they had Chad Gable on Smackdown, but still. Heath Slater can't help but feel a little bit anxious as he walks into the ring, Rhyno's imposing stature behind him. So much rides on tonight, his double wide, his above ground pool, his career. He closes his eyes and breathes in once, twice, deeply, before opening his eyes and staring at Jimmy and Jey until the bell rings to cue the start of the match.

Heath fights, he does, never giving up even when he's down, but Jimmy and Jey keep tagging in and out, keeping Heath from having any real chance at getting to the relative safety of his corner and Rhyno. He's getting brutalized, struggling to catch a breath between each blow. Finally he hits a lucky punch, rocking Jey. Before he could dive into the corner, Jey recovers enough to grab him and prepare to slam him just for Heath to elbow him hard in the face and rock free, dropkicking Jey hard enough to make space between them, Heath scrambling over to Rhyno and tagging in.

Jimmy, now in, hits Heath from behind and sends him flying off of the apron and hitting the barricade wall with a teeth rattling impact. Heath groans, listening to the audience exclaim in sympathy and support behind him as he struggles to his feet. He can just see into the ring from this angle, watching as the Usos double team Rhyno, keeping him down and targetting his leg like they did Gable. Heath, still stinging from the prior beatdown, stumbles forward, leaning against the ring as he tries to find the strength to get back in there.

Impatient to finish this, Jey rolls out to the mat and searches around before grabbing a chair, ignoring the referee's recriminations and warnings. He joins his twin and wraps Rhyno's leg in the weapon, urging Jimmy to go up. Uncertain what they're even thinking, Heath struggles to his feet and gasps for breath, watching them through sweat-blurred vision before lunging forward and hitting Jey with a spinning heel kick, staggering him away from Rhyno. "Get outta here!" he screams, tossing him clear out of the ring in a bit of justified revenge from earlier, dusting his hands off as he watches Jey hit the mat and lay there, dazed.

Jimmy is temporarily frozen on the top rope and Heath quickly realizes that Rhyno is still in some trouble, down on the mat with the chair wrapped around his leg and it seems Jimmy realizes too because Heath quickly runs forward, getting between them. "What're you tryin' to do, huh?" he demands, more courageous now that it's only Jimmy to contend with. He can hear as Rhyno stirs and starts to struggle free, scrambling back. Heath peeks back and sees that Rhyno's free, limping a bit but on both feet as he exchanges a quick nod with Heath- just for Heath to face forward in time to take a crossbody from Jimmy that sends him back... he feels a sharp, sudden pain and then everything goes dark.

Consciousness brings with it a special kind of pain and he groans softly, eyes fluttering as he struggles to figure out what happened. When he recalls his last memory, being in the ring and saving Rhyno from the Usos, he moans morosely and mouths, "I lost..." His vocal chords not quite working, his lips painfully dry, he's shocked when he hears a response.

"No, you didn't lose," a familiar accented voice tells him simply, Heath's eyes finally opening. "Well, there you are," Wade greets him. "It's about time, I've been sitting here for a good two hours waiting."

"Wh... why-" Heath coughs and sighs when Wade holds a glass of water to his lips, waiting patiently for him to drink. "How did you get here?"

"Flew," Wade says with a smirk that makes Heath roll his eyes. "I wanted to surprise you before your match, but the flight was delayed so I arrived just after you were taken here." Heath looks around at the hospital room with a grimace, so many questions on his lips. "Jimmy crossbodied you and you hit the back of your head onto the steel chair. The doctors are going to want to run tests and such now that you're awake, but I think there's something more important we need to discuss first."

"So we lost," he grunts out, his headache growing as he lays there, drowning in his sadness. "No pool, no double wide, no-"

Wade's hand on his arm quiets him down. "No, ginger. Hush. Someone wants to see you." He looks at the door. "Come in."

Rhyno pushes the door open, dressed in shorts and a Tapout shirt, his stoic face relaxing when he sees Heath is conscious. "Hey, Heath."

"Sorry I failed," Heath says without bothering to greet him properly. "I really thought we had a chance, but I guess-" His words die away when a flash of blue crosses his vision and something heavy rests across his chest, his arms instinctively reaching up to hold onto one of the tag titles, Rhyno gripping its partner. He gapes, his lips parting in shock. "Wha- what?" he squeaks.

"After you were knocked out, Rhyno speared Jimmy and pinned him," Wade says with a smirk. "You two are the inaugural Smackdown Tag Team Champions."

Heath can't even be embarrassed as tears fill his eyes, slowly trickling down his flushed face. "No more community pool?"

Rhyno chuckles. "No more community pool," he confirms.

Heath coughs as his hospital door opens once more and Shane peeks in, eyes lighting up when he spots Heath conscious. "Ah, there you are. Um, you're not going to confuse me for my sister again, are you?" he wonders, inching into the room the rest of the way.

"No," Heath exhales, watching him trade places with Rhyno.

"Well, I see you have your title belt. I have something else for you here," Shane says, holding out a clipboard to Heath.

"Is that my contract?" he wonders, struggling to sit up and clinging to Wade as he comes up to help pull Heath up, a sudden wave of dizziness leaving him gripping Wade's arm until it passes. "Thanks," he mumbles, pale and a little sweaty. Wade looks at him for a few moments before nodding and pulling away, Rhyno and Shane both looking concerned as he exhales. "I'm good. Can I look at it?"

"Of course," Shane says, handing it to him.

Heath reads through it, thinks it sounds ok- not much different from his prior contract, just exclusively to Smackdown, with a little financial bonus due to his being champion. Before he even has to ask, Shane is handing him a pen and he nods in thanks, scrawling his signature along the indicated lines somewhat sloppily, but he figures as long as it's somewhat legible, it'll be fine. Once Shane has the contract back in his possession, Heath smiles around at them all, feeling sappy and exhausted. "Thanks, Shane. Er, Mr. McMahon. I'll do you proud."

"After seeing how you've scraped and clawed the last few weeks to make it this far, I don't doubt it," Shane says, tapping the clipboard against Heath's leg before turning to take his leave. "Feel better, Heath, and I look forward to seeing what you do on Smackdown in the future."

Wade once more helps Heath to lay back, his eyes slipping shut. "Did that really just happen?" he wonders, hugging his title belt once more.

"Yes, it did," Wade murmurs, brushing his hair into a somewhat less messy style with his fingers.

The doctor arrives then and Wade and Rhyno wait patiently while Heath is examined, the doctor deciding that he has no concussion but explaining that since he was unconscious for so long, they'll be keeping him for examination over night.

As soon as the doctor leaves, Heath grins sleepily and opens his eyes, looking at Rhyno when he steps forward. "I know you were thinkin' this was probably just gonna be temporary but now that we're champs, you're good with bein' my partner a little longer, right?"

"Hell, yeah, man." Rhyno claps Heath on the shoulder. "Glad you're alright. I'll see you on Tuesday."

"Yeah, we'll hafta celebrate," Heath agrees, grinning as Rhyno rolls his eyes and nods at Wade on his way out of the room. Sighing contentedly, Heath closes his eyes. "So, this is a thing," he murmurs, patting the title belt just to remind himself it's a reality.

"Yes, it is," Wade murmurs, taking his seat next to the bed and leaning in to look closely at the silver plates. "I'm proud of you." He leans in and kisses him. "And I never doubted you."

"Well, that makes one of us," Heath chuckles, kissing him back. "Thanks for always supportin' me, Brit."

"Keyword always," Wade tells him, reaching in and tugging the belt from his grip gently, placing it on the table next to the bed. "It's going to be a long week for you, champ. Get some sleep."

Heath nods and closes his eyes, lips tugging up into a smile when Wade's fingers interlace with his, squeezing gently. "G'night, Brit," he murmurs, able to drift into the first truly worry free sleep he's had since the draft all of those weeks ago.


End file.
